This is some very fine Dead.The Let it grow is awesome.Set 2 is the shit with a killer Ds>Stella Blue.Its the Wall of Sound and its 74'.

stardude2012 pretty much nailed it. The Dark Star blasts off from a dead stop after Jack Straw and takes off....meandering around the solar system eventually settling into an interesting take on Slipknot....slipknot could be a launching pad itself.....and then the Stella -- this one is not so much about Jer tearing the leads...but his voice is so front and center/clean...just a heartfelt Stella Blue...one of those hear a pin drop...every word sung with the emotion only he could emit. There are better shows from 74, but this is an excellent recording (hiss? have to listen for it) for instrument separation, tone....just good stuff...

So many truly, excellent shows from 1974 have received the official GD release treatment. Think of all those Dick's Picks: Vol. 7, Sept 9-11; Vol. 12, June 26 and 28; Vol. 24, March 23; Vol. 31, August 4-6. Think of Road Trips, Vol. 2 No. 3, showcasing June 16 and 18. And more recently, think Dave's Picks: Vol. 2 , July 31; Vol. 9, May 14; Vol. 13, Feb 24; and Vol. 17, June 19. In comparison, I tend to agree with AZDEADEAD's review, this one feels a little sleepy; or as he put it, "It was almost like they were in a downer mood." Noting the "Weirdness in Chicago," he refers to the unconventional Ship of Fools encore (rather than JBG or USB) and -- if he is to be believed -- says that Phil sat down during much of set two.

At any rate -- there's no denying it and certainly not in larger historical GD terms -- this is a good show. Like much of '74, it's the dead at their jazziest. Check out, for example, the (wordless) dark star, especially the middle parts from around 10 to 13 or so minutes. The end segues into a neat little Slipknot! jam that then, after a few minutes, melts into Stella Blue. These nearly thirty-three minutes, alone, worth the price of admission. This was one of only seven dark stars played all year. If that sounds like a lot, note that they played it 18x in '73, 31x in '72, 12x in '71, and 22x in '70. Never mind how many times they played it in '69 and '68. Of course, they would only play it two more times in '74, not again until NYE '78, twice in January '79 (10 and 20), on NYE '81, July 13, '84 at the Greek Theater and then not for another five-and-a-half years (until Oct. 9, '89, Hampton). They'd play it -- perhaps -- another 30x before the last one played on 30 March '94.

The last ds in Chicago was from the phenomenal 10/21/71 show (ds->sototw->ds). After this, as secret8476 notes in a review of the show (posted in the other available archive stream), "this was the last Chicago Dark Star until a tease at Soldier Field in 91, and finally a first verse only in the spring of 94 at the Rosemont Horizon."

I just love this. Do you think the band members were hallucinating during that second set? Things get pretty trrrriiiiipppppyyyy . . .

Due to a missing Track #1 (Bertha), until you hit the Weather Report Suite, these are all off by one track.

I attended this show, and over 100 more after it. My recollections: The hall was cavernous and totally dark when we arrived. Some seven or eight of us were seated on stage left, about halfway up and halfway back. The music had already started, but all we could hear was swirling noise. Garcia had shaved his beard, cut his hair, and lost about fifty pounds, and that fact, combined with not being able to hear, meant we did not even know if it was actually the Dead onstage. The people seated next to us thought we were watching Quicksilver, who did not play that night. Anyway, the sound gradually improved, and by the cowboy tunes, was excellent, but by the time 'Row Jimmy'was playing, it became staggering, otherworldly, and totally liquid. Seastones played between sets, arching up the effects and quality even more. During the break, I heard something like incredibly beautiful birds twittering in the rafters, and as the lights came up for the second set, I realized it was Garcia playing solo facing his amps. Amazing. I had never heard 'Scarlet' before that night, but I can tell you this, halfway through it I got 'shown the light' in one of the 'strangest of places.' Before or since, I've NEVER witnessed a performance or sound system like that. The Wall of Sound was flat-out the finest use of electricity I've ever witnessed. In fact, I've been attempting to replicate that moment for decades. I get close sometimes with my own system now, but that night made me a Deadhead 4 ever. I am so Grateful to be able to listen back to the shows I attended. How lucky can you be? My appraisal of the show as it stacks up to others; 3 stars. In my personal hit parade? 5 stars+. If I can ever get my time machine working, you will know where to find me.

I was there at the Internaitonal Amphitheater in 1974 for this one. It goes down as an enjoyable but one of the stranger shows I saw the Dead do in nearly 20 years of attending their concerts.
Dark Star (no words) was the 2nd set jam (in a year when they weren't doing that often, if at all), Phil Lesh actually sat down while playing during much of the set, and the encore was not your typical rollicking Johnny B Good or US Blues, etc, but rather Ship of Fools. It was almost like they were in a downer mood.

Finally, the last couple songs of the show had somewhat of a patriotic theme: US Blues and Uncle John's Band. I've always wondered if these selections combined with the Ship of Fools encore were the Dead's message re: the Nixon administration which had less than two weeks to live.

This is a solid but little-known show, with one of the few Dark Stars played in '74. The recording is super-clean with good presence and nice separation. I didn't notice the hiss mentioned by the previous reviewer. The tunes are all played well but it doesn't stand out as a must-have show, that's pretty difficult in a year like 1974 when there are so many standout shows. The Dark Star>Slipknot! jam makes the show worthy of a download, and the other tunes demonstrate the level of consistency they had achieved at that point. Deadbase and deadlists (and my other copy of this gig) show that there is a Me & My Uncle opener but it is not available in this seed. Not sure if it is a mistake or if the tune was unavailable from this source (which would be surprising since it's the master reel). Anyhow, download Me & My Uncle from the other source and the rest of the show from this one! The sound is a solid 4 stars and the performance is a nice average 3 stars, no mistakes but in a year like 1974 it's pretty middle-of-the-road. I'd give it a 4 stars but the missing track makes it incomplete.

Solid show but a little hissy. Slipknot! jam is way cool.

Wow I did not even know this show existed, but there it is in my DeadBase too.

I have had the '73 Chicago International Amp on tape for a while, and so was thrilled to find that on the archive, that show sounds just as awesome as ever (ok, even better!) So of course I wanted to check out the return to the venue... The first set is pretty solid, but nothing really jumps out as amazing as with the Fresno show the week before, and Roosevelt in August, for example. Clean sound, good song selection. I think the "Uncle" is missing from the 908mb lossless zip file, so be sure to grab it from above if you are after the whole show. The WRS suite is really good, and the A&A is a great rockin' set closer.

But let me cut to the chase, another '74 Dark Star! The boys start it up from a dead stop after Jack Straw, go figure. The Dark Star theme is gone after a few minutes, they jam around for 20 full-minutes, drifting off towards Pluto (but not past it), coming back in with some interesting drumming to pick up the pace. Very jazzy. Then the recently-debuted Slipknot! jam kicks in, sick! How cool to hear it in this context, it is mostly Jerry ripping on the Slipknot theme. They never do get around to singing any of the Dark Star verses, oh well.

I guess I'm gonna have to go with 3 stars on this one. Do check out the Dark Star (jam) into Slipknot! and a beautiful Stella Blue.